Wines of Italy Series: Puglia con Fabio-- Part 2

Adagio con Fabio Part 2

We dashed around Lecce in the rain stopping in a wine shop bookstore combination and in Maglio a chocolate store that was like a art gallery of confections. Books, wine and chocolate...now that's a perfect pairing for me. I showed some of what we ate and drank in the video on my last post, (see it again at the bottom of this post) but here are more details on the wine and food in southern Puglia with Fabio.

Lecce and Le Zie Trattoria

After poking around Lecce in the rain we had a glorious meal at the now famous, but still unassuming, Le Zie Trattoria, run by the Auntie of Franics Ford Coppola. Le Zie is small, with less than ten tables, it's like you are siting in someones living room. Coppola's picture hangs on the wall along above the chair rail where locals tuck their business cards.  

No menu. No wine list. Dishes just started to appear and it was all outstanding: A plate of cannellini beans was mind-boggling in it's simplicity and flavor. Also exceptional was the chickpea purée with chard and croutons soaked in olive oil, and the tipical Puglian orecchiette pasta with delicate pork and beef meat balls dusted with pecorino.

The end-cap of the meal-- homemade cannella (cinnamon) and bay laurel liquors were a tonic for my chest congestion and better than the Medi-Nait, the Italian version of Nyquil.

Cannella and Laurel liquors 

Wines of Puglia
Puglia is one of the few regions of Italy I had not previously visited. I got a great overview on the wines of Puglia during the sponsored tasting at the IWINETC conference and was looking forward to visiting the places Fabio had selected for my wine mini-tour.

Cantele

A visit to Cantele is a must. There is something special going on here. Paolo Cantele and his brother are carrying forward the traditions of the family wine business and doing a tremendous job of it. I found these wines to be elegant and balanced but very unassuming. I liked everything they poured from their spicy Negromaro Rose, to the solid Salice Salentino Riserva.

My favorite was the Amativo 60% Primitivo 40% Negroamaro-- soft and luscious with rich fruit balanced tannins. I also enjoyed the 2009 Teresamanara 100% Negroamaro a spicy and perfumed wine named after their grandmother. There is a great sense of harmony at Cantele. You can feel it in the people, the place, and especially in the wines.

Candido

At Candido, in San Donaci, we met with Francesca Mancarella who guided me through a tasting of several of their most popular wines. The delightfully dry Le Pozzelle Salice Salentino Rose was a standout as was the La Carta Salice Salentino Riseva made of 95% Negroamaro and 5% Malvasia Nera.

I also tasted the very bright Tenuta Marini Salento Fiano, that was full of fresh apple and mineral flavor. Francesca advised that the best way to experience their sweet red Aleatico was with a piece of dark chocolate and create a "Mon Cheri moment" as she called it. We took a bottle home and followed her advice and it was indeed the perfect pairing.

Apollonio

I liked the art and atmosphere at Apollonio, but I found the wines rather hit and miss. They came highly recommended, and I did try a 100% Negroamaro that  I liked very much at a previous tasting, as well as the Terragnolo 100% Primitivo. But the Valle Cupa 50/50 Negroamaro-Primitivo I purchased, while velvety at first, had no underlying structure and was not pleasing to my palate.  

Special thanks to Fabio and his cousins for hosting me. And to Cantele, Candido and Apollonio for their hospitality.

DETAILS:

Adagio con Fabio 

Wineries

Cantele

Candido

Apollonio

Dining

Le Zia Trattoria Cucina Caserccia 

Via Col. Costadura 19, Lecce, Puglia

Chocolate

Maglio Arte Dolciaria 

Adagio con Fabio-- Off the Grid in Puglia

 Auto Grill outside of Naples

It's the last day of May as I post this, but the memory of the deep freeze in Italy this past February is still present in my mind. After the International Wine Tourism Conference media trip ended in Naples, I met up with my friend Fabio who I wrote about previously here.  Despite the monumental amount of snow, we made it through the blizzard like conditions on the A16 to Puglia. There was an occasional burst of sun, but mostly I viewed the region through a scrim of grey.

We stayed on an organic farm outside of Brindisi with Fabio's cousins. Over the course of several days Fabio took me to Lecce and on a modified version of the food and wine tours his clients can experience. The short video below is just a little slice of what I experienced -- Adagio con Fabio.

The area around Brindisi, Lecce and San Donaci is flat and full of vines and olive groves. Olive tree forests really. Miles and miles of ancient twisted trees line almost every road. In between the olive orchards are acres of grapes, many of them growing on alberello vines that are like little trees and un-trellised.

The primary grape grown in Puglia is Negroamaro, a red grape that produces dark and earthy wines with rustic sensibilities.  Fabio set up tastings for me at Candido, Cantele, and Apollonio --I'll tell you more about that in the next post. 

One very personal aspect of my visit to Puglia was staying with members of Fabio's family on their organic farm outside of Brindisi. Is there any better way to experience a place than living with locals? Not really. But it helps to have a guide like Fabio bring you close to "native" status. We ate most of our evening meals with the family and each night I was amazed as more people appeared and squeezed in around the table for some hearty and delicious fare direct from the garden. 

It does not get any more "farm to table" than this. No photos of the meals, as I did not want to drive one more nail in the the coffin of crazy Americans and their rude eating habits.  Italians love their iPhones as much as we do, but you rarely see them on the table at dinner. An exception was made for the wine shots. When one of the youngest members of the family asked her father what I was doing, he replied-- "That's her job, to drink and take pictures." Her eyes grew wide at this news and her teenage siblings nodded in approval. Wine Blogger -- ersatz role model. Someone has to do it. 

All glasses were pressed into service for the farewell evening

Mystery wine, Primitivo, Apollonio Valle Cupa, Candido Aleatico, Grapppa

It's always been my experience when staying with Italian friends and relatives that the serious partying is reserved for your last night there. All the "artisanal" mystery beverages are brought out and things can get interesting quickly. I added to the offerings with a bottle of Apollonio Valle Cupa and the Candido Aleatico which we were all surprised to find was a deep ruby color, not the amber or orange color expected in a sweet wine.

This bottle marked Primitivo with a piece of masking tape showed great promise and I think it's likely to be quite good in a few years. Frankly, I liked it better than the 50/50 blend of Primitivo/Negoramo I bought at Apollonio. The home brew had some tannin chops, maybe too choppy, but give it some time.

Fear not the hand labeled bottles there's some good, albeit powerful, stuff inside. The homemade grappa packed a wallop and darn near took the enamel off my teeth, but after the third sip it mellowed considerably. As did I.

I have no idea what was in the re-purposed Alcool bottle, but we all drank it and survived. Needless to say I slept very well that evening.

If you are planning a trip to Puglia and want to have a personalized food and wine experience with much laughter-- contact Fabio via twitter @fabiopittella or visit his web site linked below.

DETAILS:
Adagio con Fabio